Hey Good Times fans breaking news. Another Good Times Cast Passes on in the Spirit Janet Dubois Willina Woods was unexpectedly found dead in her home in California TMZ brook the news on Facebook just letting y'all know RIP.

Here is the article from TMZ about it:

https://www.tmz.com/2020/02/18/good-times-willona-janet-dubois-dead-dies-74/

There’s already a thread for this.

https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=389154

She brought a great deal of talent to the table, great performer. I'm a little skeptical about her age (74), that would have made her 34 when Good Times went off the air (just two years older than Jimmy Walker). Wikipedia has two different dates of birth, 1938 and 1945, 1938 seems about right (maybe even a little earlier), Wikipedia indicated she lost a child in 1987 who was 36 (which would indicate the child was born in1951).

:(

I was in the process of posting long before that one. Unfortunately my internet connection was interrupted before I could finish. When it came back on I just went ahead and finished my thread.

Sorry. I didn’t know that.

She brought a great deal of talent to the table, great performer. I'm a little skeptical about her age (74), that would have made her 34 when Good Times went off the air (just two years older than Jimmy Walker). Wikipedia has two different dates of birth, 1938 and 1945, 1938 seems about right (maybe even a little earlier), Wikipedia indicated she lost a child in 1987 who was 36 (which would indicate the child was born in1951).

Sources were saying that she was either 81 or 74.

So sorry to hear of her passing. May she R.I.P.

Another sad shocking death ! :( She was 't that old! May she RIP!!

Sources are differing about the year she was born and how old she was.

She was born on August 5, but the years given are 1932, 1938, or 1945.

May she rest in peace. I enjoyed her playing Willona, she could really ruffle James's feathers at times. So sad to hear of her passing.

Ja’Net DuBois remembered: Good Times' Norman Lear, Janet Jackson and BernNadette Stanis pay tribute (https://deadline.com/2020/02/janet-dubois-remembered-by-janet-jackson-norman-1202862936/)

The death (https://www.primetimer.com/item/Good-Times-star-Janet-DuBois-dies-at-74-mpS37d) of the Emmy-winning actress best known for playing nosey and vivacious neighbor Willona Woods on the 1974-1979 CBS sitcom inspired social media tributes. Norman Lear, who developed Good Times as a spinoff of Maude, posted an image (https://www.instagram.com/p/B8uoSU9pxlO/) on Instagram of him and Dubois together two months ago at the Live in Front of a Studio Audience taping for Good Times. "Ja’Net DuBois was all light and will be missed. I love that she wrote the theme song for her passing, 'Movin’ on Up,'" Lear wrote on Instagram, referring to DuBois co-writing and singing The Jeffersons theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L09qnRfZY-k) song. Janet Jackson (https://www.instagram.com/p/B8uyqlmpFRv/), who portrayed her adopted daughter “Penny” Woods (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGcITiMczh0), also honored her on Instagram. “I am so very saddened to hear my longtime friend Ja’Net DuBois has passed away,” Jackson wrote. “I saw first hand how she broke stereotypes and changed the landscape for Black women in entertainment. I’m grateful in recent years I had a chance to see her and create more lasting memories.” BernNadette Stanis (https://www.instagram.com/p/B8uouCwhvNP/), who played Thelma Evans on Good Times, also joined DuBois at the Live in Front of a Studio Audience taping (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-CqDuNO7WU). In an Instagram video, Stanis recalled DuBois writing The Jeffersons theme. “You were like an aunt to me," Stanis wrote (https://www.instagram.com/p/B8uW4QHBPEu/) in a separate post. "We shared so many things, from my early days on Good Times to just two weeks ago at the Hollywood Show. I will miss you and all of your cast family will miss you. Rest In Peace Beautiful Soul. We are praying for your family." Also paying tribute to DuBois was Viola Davis (https://twitter.com/violadavis/status/1229927175312199680), who played Esther Rolle's character Florida Evans in Live in Front of a Studio Audience. "Oh man!!!" Davis tweeted, accompanied by a photo of her DuBois and Stanis. "Just saw you! What a pleasure it was to meet you. You shaped so much of the best memories of my childhood! God bless you, Ja’net DuBois! RIP."

Ja’Net DuBois was the personification of cool on Good Times (https://theundefeated.com/features/janet-dubois-good-times-knew-how-to-make-an-entrance/)

DuBois, who died Tuesday at the age of 74, "knew how to make an entrance," says Keith Murphy. "In the annals of television sitcom history, few actors injected their character’s on-screen arrival with as much eye-winking swagger as did DuBois in Norman Lear’s 1970s landmark series Good Times." In a 2006 interview, DuBois told Bravo's Andy Cohen (https://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-happens-live/season-1/blogs/andy-cohen/willona-speaks) her job as Willona Woods "was to make it right, fast and funny. It was a wonderful thing that happened. It changed the scene for the type of black woman being shown. The wigs, the hats, my everything was a dream come true.” Murphy adds: "Given that the at times controversial Good Times took place at Chicago’s infamous Cabrini-Green housing project, her impact as one of TV’s most indelible black style icons in a mostly white television landscape cannot be overstated. Way before Shonda Rhimes introduced us to Scandal’s Olivia Pope (played with ostentatious splendor and soaring attitude by perennial baddie Kerry Washington), DuBois was the personification of cool. Plus, the risk-taking storyline of a divorced black woman, totally in control, with a rotation of suitors and who would later adopt a child (!!!) was shocking stuff on the small screen in those years."

ALSO:


To call Willona Woods comic relief is to miss the point (https://level.medium.com/rip-janet-dubois-the-first-grown-ass-woman-gen-xers-fell-in-love-with-b7901bf5e70a): "With Good Times tackling topics like child abuse, black unemployment, gang violence, loan sharks, and even death, Willona always breezed into apartment 17C to lighten the mood with some hope," says Miles Marshall Lewis. "She had her own issues, most of which swirled around the men she dated: Even today, memes circulate social media with Willona cutting stank eyes at wannabe boyfriends who can’t hang. Yet, she embodied unflagging optimism in the face of the socioeconomic situation surrounding the Evans family. Willona dared to live a vivacious life on-screen, a pioneering move at a time when single women in their forties weren’t expected to be happy about that singlehood."
Ja’Net DuBois last appeared in public with her Good Times co-stars earlier this month on Feb. 1, at a fan meet-and-greet in Burbank (https://www.tmz.com/2020/02/20/janet-dubois-good-times-reunion-healthy-before-death/)

She brought a great deal of talent to the table, great performer. I'm a little skeptical about her age (74), that would have made her 34 when Good Times went off the air (just two years older than Jimmy Walker). Wikipedia has two different dates of birth, 1938 and 1945, 1938 seems about right (maybe even a little earlier), Wikipedia indicated she lost a child in 1987 who was 36 (which would indicate the child was born in1951).

For what it's worth, here's her passport from a trip to Brazil in 1959.

see offsite link on imgur.com (https://i.imgur.com/fRTrDTM.jpg)

She's listed as a dancer in this 1959 Cab Calloway revue (http://www.thehidehoblog.com/files/large/2893) that toured Brazil.

The NY Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/arts/janet-dubois-dead.html) has updated her obituary, but her youngest daughter insists she was 74!

Her family said Ms. DuBois was 74 when she died, but public records indicate she was older.

As you said, one of her sons, Raj K. Gupta was born in 1951 and died of cancer in 1987. She married her husband Sajit Gupta in 1950. Ja'net's 66 year old son, Provat (https://s3.amazonaws.com/coachup_s3storage_production/app/public/profile/b5bdf3991a7eaa7e49c5af94ada3b76e5af7bf7a.jpg?1514762514) is a basketball coach.

Her possible records, where one of her daughters is listed as a relative. Her daughter is 67. (TruePeopleSearch.com - Janet Theresa Dubois - Pasadena, California - 100% Free People Search (https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/results?name=Janet%20Dubois&citystatezip=Glendale%2C%20CA&rid=0x0))

She was one of the most enjoyable players on Good Times, the only adult actor in all 5 seasons.

RIP Ja'net.

The NY Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/arts/janet-dubois-dead.html) has updated her obituary, but her youngest daughter insists she was 74!

As you said, one of her sons, Raj K. Gupta was born in 1951 and died of cancer in 1987. She married her husband Sajit Gupta in 1950. Ja'net's 66 year old son, Provat (https://s3.amazonaws.com/coachup_s3storage_production/app/public/profile/b5bdf3991a7eaa7e49c5af94ada3b76e5af7bf7a.jpg?1514762514) is a basketball coach.

Her possible records, where one of her daughters is listed as a relative. Her daughter is 67. (TruePeopleSearch.com - Janet Theresa Dubois - Pasadena, California - 100% Free People Search (https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/results?name=Janet%20Dubois&citystatezip=Glendale%2C%20CA&rid=0x0))

Obviously her family not telling the truth about her age. If she is 74, that mean she was only 4 years old when she got married in 1950 :rolleyes:

IMDb list her birthday as Aug 5, 1932 which make her 87 when she passed awy. That sound about right.

She was also in one episode of Sanford and Son in 1972. She does looks like about 40.

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/34/f0/48/34f0480941e06182eb77ea76be054424--dubois.jpg

Either way, RIP Ms Willona Woods.

Ja'Net Dubois' death certificate 'lists Cab Calloway as her father (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8108455/JaNet-Dubois-death-certificate-lists-jazz-icon-Cab-Calloway-secret-biological-father.html)

Ja'Net DuBois' family is revealing an amazing hidden fact about the "Good Times" star -- her biological father was none other than jazz legend Cab Calloway ... or so they believe.

It's turning into quite a showbiz mystery, actually ... one that started when Ja'Net's death certificate was released this week by L.A. County. The document, obtained by TMZ (https://www.tmz.com/2020/03/13/janet-dubois-cab-calloway-secret-birth-father-death-certificate/), lists her father as Cab -- and says she was also known as Jeannette T. Calloway-DuBois.

It's interesting because, in addition to acting, Ja'Net was a singer. She co-wrote and sang the theme song to "The Jeffersons" ... which makes ya think the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

If you don't know, Calloway's swing era, singing and dancing, helped put Harlem's famed Cotton Club on the map in the 1930s.

However, before anyone starts rewriting history ... there's a dispute. Every online bio for Ja'Net lists her dad was Gordon Dubois and her mother was Lillian Gouedy. Her mom's name is the same on the death certificate, but Mr. Dubois is nowhere on the document.

Ja'Net's daughter provided the info for the death certificate, and when we asked her to clarify, she would only say Gordon was married to Lillian and "instrumental" in raising Ja'Net. Basically, a stepfather.

Now, Cab died in 1994, but his estate has no clue about the alleged connection. The estate tells TMZ .. "While we have a great appreciation for Ja'Net DuBois' long and successful career, the Calloway Estate has nothing to add to this single document that has numerous mistakes and no verification."

For instance, the estate points out there are multiple birthplaces and birth dates listed online for Ja'Net. We're told they'd be open to a conversation with her family if there were any "compelling facts to substantiate" their claim.

Translation: Ball's in the Dubois family's court now.

I didn't know that.

RIP Ja'Net DuBois

She was very funny on Good Times